Apart from The Holiday, I haven't really spent a huge amount of time in LA. Not that I avoid it, it's just that I don't often go there unless I'm doing press. The one thing I have discovered about LA with kids is that it's really great for children. They really like the sun and making sand castles.
I'm a normal human being. I don't have any desire to change my body as a result of having had two kids. That's a good thing, isn't it?
I am definitely still the same kid that I was picking up the guitar at 15. But, I have definitely learned to be more flexible and roll with the punches. It's such an unpredictable business to be in and it's insane how things change so last minute.
What I love the most that I really want to talk about is that there are women in business. They are incredibly focused on creating their own businesses and going out there. That's going to be their life, whether they have kids or not. And then there are women who have children that kind of nobly say, "You know what? I'm going to be a mom, and that's going to be my work and my love of my life." Which to me, is just as ambitious of a job and a journey.
I have such faith in the millennial generation, because they just don't think like other generations do. They really don't. And I truly believe it's going to be a phenomenal thing to watch, because they're very outspoken. They are living in a world right now where equality is something that the young kids are supporting. It's just what their focus is. Equality is everything to the kids. At least that's what I'm witnessing and it's an amazing thing to watch.
I think, oh my god, kids are reading, and they care about a book enough to come over and talk to me about a book that they care about. If I think about it as being a celebrity, it would freak me out. But I just think, lucky me, that I get to be a part of this whole thing.
This is the great thing about writing for kids. Adults might not do anything if they recognized me. But if they do see me, and they're with a kid, they'll tell the kid who I am. They think they should give that to the kid. So generally that sends the kid over.
To me the book is like having a kid. I have to let it go out in the world, and great things will happen. Maybe they won't, but it has to keep on moving.
Going out and not only meeting the kids, but meeting the teachers and the librarians and seeing the world, fills me up.
I like going to schools and telling classes that when I was a child, I failed every "will this kid become a writer" test.
Everything when I was a kid was illustrated.
Hands down, the biggest thrill is to get a letter from a kid saying, I loved your book. Will you write me another one?
What would make me happiest is if kids read these books [Bink & Gollie] and think: there is so much to love in the world; and words are so much fun.
Reading a story should be a fabulous, wonderful thing. The most important thing that parents can do for kids is to read with them and to let their kids see them reading books for their own pleasure.
I was a kid who lived to read. It was the primary pleasure of my existence. It's still one of the primary pleasures of my existence. It's where I draw my sustenance.
When I was a kid I loved to read, but I didn't write and I didn't create imaginary worlds. So, if one student walks away thinking, "She's obviously just an ordinary person, yet she gets to make her living doing what she wants to do. Maybe that applies to me, too," then I feel like my time has been well spent.
As a kid books changed how I looked at the world and helped me understand things. Books still deepen me and open my heart.
All I know is, he found out you left and he locked himself in the shed and barricaded the door. No one's seen him since," Doug said. "When I bolted, Sean and Evan were trying to boost Caleb up onto the roof so he could look through the skylight and make sure the kid wasn't dead or something.
Keeping your ex close took three people who were willing to be incredibly generous, grown-up and mature. I give enormous credit to Michael and Len for the way they've handled things. As a result, I have an amazing child with three great parents. I feel slightly sorry for kids who've got only two!
I was a home-schooled kid, living in the forest, and I didn't even have cable. I'm serious.
It's impossible to overstate how important social media has been to me and the development of my career. The fact that I can go and play venues that hold 25,000 people and sell them out is crazy.I don't have music on the radio. I'm not a pop culture icon. I'm just this kid making dance music. And yet I still can sell out massive arenas. It's truly incredible, and I think a lot of that is because of social media.
I love working with young artists. Jacob Latimore was the first kid that I auditioned. After he walked out, I turned to my husband and said, "I think that's the kid. I don't know if I have to look any further. He's the one!" He's a real star.
I like other people's kids and being able to give them back when I want to.
I know when I was a kid I ate a beetle. I ate a beetle because I thought it was licorice.
If I were a woman, I would love to have lots of kids. But for men, I don’t believe in it.
